Saturday, April 28, 2012

"Imagine the fury of the men of Galilee when a
young, unmarried girl showed up in their village pregnant. They must have talked
about punishments. Stoning — a legitimate penalty, condoned by Deuteronomy —
would have been appropriate, although the more compassionate among them might
have suggested something gentler: ostracism or banishment.If the girl had been allowed to speak for herself, which she probably wasn’t,
she might have tried to explain. The Gospels testify that something supernatural
happened while she was out of doors; she had an encounter with an angel. In that
case, who would have believed her? Historians put forth other theories: a rape,
a lover. Those explanations would have assured her guilt.

In Luke’s Gospel, the girl with
the commonest name of the time — Mary — spends the first several months of her
pregnancy out of town with a cousin. The Gospel of Matthew suggests that Mary’s
condition made her “a public disgrace.” Joseph agrees to marry her
anyway.

When I see that a department of the Vatican, in Rome, has rebuked a group of
American nuns for “radical feminism” and for speaking out of turn and has called
in a man — a superior — to set things right, I think about Mary. When I see
American bishops wanting to make rules about sexuality and contraception for
ordinary people, I think about Mary.A woman is at the very center of the Christian story, yet that story has been
told and controlled for millennia by men...."

Bridget Mary's Reflection:Mary's Prayer, the Magnificat, reflects the liberating activity of God who is always acting on behalf of the poor and the oppressed in our world. Her hymn of praise found in chapter 1 of Luke is a critique of the dominator, patriarchal model used by political and religious leaders to subdue and oppress God's people. Now in this latest deplorable action by the Vatican, the take-over of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, we see the "Fathers know best" approach in action. The smart money is on the triumph of the nuns over the hierarchy! I believe that Mary, first disciple and loving mother, is supporting the nuns and all women, including women priests, on our journey to live justice and equality in the church and world. She taught her son well. For centuries, the church practiced a devotion to Mary, as the first priest- She was the first one who could say "this is my body, this is my blood!" In our struggle for human rights for all, especially the poor and marginalized, Mary is our role model, guide and cheer-leader. Our inclusive Catholic community, in Sarasota, Florida, bears her name: Mary Mother of Jesus Catholic Community.

"As this work week ends, another outstanding piece
from Jerry Slevin, commenting on the ongoing trial in the archdiocese of
Philadelphia, the current political strategy of the Vatican and U.S. Catholic
bishops, and the mandate to “reform” American religious women–and how these
pieces fit together. This is a rich and detailed posting, and I’m grateful
to Jerry for providing this information to all of us who are trying to
understand how these various pieces interlock. What follows is Jerry’s
posting:

The nauseating selected stories oozing out of
the Philadelphia Archdiocese sexual swamp are being issued almost
daily from a courtroom near Constitution Hall. The stories, only a
fraction of those many uncovered so far, just keep coming, as reported regularly
in detail at the Philly.com
website.

The Vatican has faced similar deluges of
negative publicity before, for example, in Ireland, Australia, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Germany, Chile, and even Boston and Los Angeles. But never
before has a case apparently carried such implications for the papacy. The
steady stream of clerical filth exposed at the current Philly trial has flowed
through the leadership periods of three important Cardinals, with extensive
papal connections, especially the last one, Cardinal Justin Rigali.

Rigali’s ties to the Vatican are and continue
to be extensive. He served several popes closely in Rome and continues on
major papal curial committees. Yesterday, a new and important special
committee was set up in Rome under the powerful Cardinal Herranz to investigate
the unprecedented recent leaks of embarrassing Vatican documents, so-called
“Vatileaks,” as
reported by Reuters. Cardinal Rigali, along with Pope John Paul II, in
1991 was one of the three co-consecrators of Herranz as bishop and still serves
with him on a major Vatican committee. Herranz is one of two Opus Dei
Cardinals and has recently served on the committee that just directed the
unexpected investigation of American nuns discussed below.

So far the only direct links to the pope
disclosed at the trial apparently was the 2005 decision of the committee headed
by then Cardinal Ratzinger to accept the defrocking of one of Philly’s predator
priest with a long history of allegations of abusing children. Of course,
Rigali and the pope communicated periodically over several decades and likely
discussed the pervasive Philly pedophile problems, as may yet be revealed in the
many weeks remaining in this criminal trial of Rigali’s former top
aide.

The Rigali papal connection raises at least
three other critical issues as the pope tries to replace Obama with Mitt Romney,
a more pliable Republican. Rigali still hasn’t explained many major
questions about his eight year leadership, until a few months ago, of the Philly
Archdiocese. These include (1) his possible role in covering up for over
two dozen priests he suspended only after his former top aide was indicted last
year, (2) his possible role with respect to the elusive shredding memorandum
listing over 30 suspected priests, and (3) his relationship over several years
with his general counsel who was recently suspended by Archbishop
Chaput

Rigali also appears to be a central figure,
along with his St. Louis protégé, Cardinal Dolan of New York, in the pope’s
current political alliance with some fundamentalist evangelicals and right-wing
Republicans, so important to the pope’s effort to replace Obama, as
evidenced in the Manhattan Declaration.
It is unclear how negative Rigali publicity will impact that alliance or the
pope’s US presidential re-election efforts generally.

Finally, Rigali has longstanding ties to Bishop
Bransfield, the current treasurer at Dolan’s US bishops’ group and President of
the Papal Foundation. The Foundation’s wealthy US donors each contribute
at least $1 million for the pope’s causes and get a private audience with
the pope as just occurred on April 21 and is shown in the video referred to
below. The donors, who appear to be very sincere in their efforts, seem a
bit subdued in the video, possibly as a result of the recent Philly trial sworn
testimony concerning Bransfield’s alleged sexual improprieties with minors,
which Bransfeld has denied. Bransfield has yet to explain fully why he
loaned his NJ beach house to a known sexual predator priest. Future
Bransfield revelations could prove embarrassing for Rigali and the pope as well.
It is unclear whether the pope discussed the allegations with Bransfield
at their recent Vatican meeting. The pope certainly should have.<
/DIV>

It is unclear what actions, if any, the elite
donors will take with respect to Bransfield or whether any of the donors sought
a fuller explanation from Bransfield last week in Rome.

These US large donors appear to be sincere
Catholics, many with children and even grandchildren. While the US elite
donor groups do not appear to have really pressed the bishops to clean up their
predator priest problem, there is no evidence they supported or condoned it
either. Of course, the donations often provide the bishops with fungible
funds that presumably often enable US bishops to continue with their extravagant
and ineffective “take no prisoners” legal strategy that has wasted much of the
more than $3 billion spent so far by US bishops on resisting at all costs
abuse victims claims.

It is fair to note that it would appear that
many of these donors would likely benefit significantly if the pope’s efforts to
help replace Obama are successful, since it would likely result in a further
extension of the Bush tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the top 1% of US
taxpayers, which appears to include many of these donors.

It is evident that the open-ended nature of the
Philly criminal trial and its anticipated aftermath, especially the ambiguous
role of Cardinal Rigali, present a ticking time-bomb for the pope, as he
marshals all the pope’s US hierarchical forces to help replace President Barak
Obama in November.

Of course, the pope’s unexpected new assault on
American nuns appears to have diverted some US media attention from the Philly
trial. It is not clear yet what is really behind the pope’s efforts to try
to gain control of the US nuns. Some of the nuns appear to control
considerable assets that could help to prop up some desperate US bishops as they
continue almost indiscriminately to spend on lawyers and others trying to avoid
having to turn over their secret priest abuse files and/or having to testify, as
the Stockton CA bishop apparently just did with an large $3.75 million payment
to a single priest sexual abuse plaintiff. The Stockton payment helped
Cardinal Mahony avoid having to testify under oath.

The nuns’ assets, if controlled instead by some
bishops, could likely help alleviate some bishops’ decidedly negative cash flow
resulting from abuse payouts like this. Neither American Catholics nor
American courts will let the pope and US bishops cherry pick the nuns’
assets, if that were to be the papal plan. Cardinal Dolan has already with
his Milwaukee cemetary funds’ transfer showed the nuns how to protect
assets, ruthlessly if necessary. As was just well said by
a prominent woman theologian Mary Hunt, with ample support: “We are all nuns
today” when it comes to the pope’s new crackdown. Few are fooled by the
papal attempt to bully the nuns, as Garry
Wills notes recently in New York Review of
Books.

Some in the current circumstances have
even described the “nun attack” as an “earthquake.” Metaphors like
earthquakes and other “Acts of God” are misplaced and misleading here. It
is pretty simple. The pope’s back is to the wall. This tough and
determined pope is pulling out all stops to save his US election year strategy,
and leaning on the nuns is just the latest stop. Attacking nuns also
diverts US media attention from the horrendous revelations almost daily from the
Philly criminal trial of the former top aide to the pope’s longtime colleague in
Rome, Cardinal Rigali.

The pope’s US election year goals and strategy
at this point seem clear, and include the following:

(1) Help elect a pliable Republican to replace
Obama. A friendly Mormon will do just fine;

(2) Make sure that the new US President (A)
will go easy on Federally prosecuting US bishops for covering up for priest
sexual predators, and (B) will shun new Federal legislation, such as mandatory
prompt national reporting of abuse claims to the police, that targets child
abusers and those who facilitate abusers;

(3) Get the new US President to lean
diplomatically on the new female prosecutor at the International Criminal Court
(ICC) to forgo filing criminal charges for an alleged worldwide cover-up of
priest child abusers against the pope, and Cardinals Bertone, Levada and
Sodano;

(4) Get a majority of Opus Dei-leaning Justices
appointed to the US Supreme Court, as aging justices retire during the next four
year presidential term; and

(5) Get this newly “stacked” US Supreme Court
to permit states again to criminalize contraception (and abortion) and to expand
nationwide the “religious liberty” shield to all US bishops from civil law
liability for failure to manage predator priests that was recently extended by
the US Supreme Court only to Missouri and to the St. Louis
Archdiocese.

The price for the pope and US bishops in
electing a Republican this year will be acceptance by the US bishops of an
extension of the Bush taxs cuts favoring the top 1%, slashes in social programs
for seniors and the needy and defeat of Obama’s health insurance program that
covers millions of presently uninsured, including many with pre-existing
conditions.

If the pope cannot deliver enough Catholic
votes in key states to elect Romney, the coalition forged first under Reagan of
the US bishops, fundamentalist evangelicals and right-wing ideologues, is likely
finished. And the pope and bishops will likely then have to face increased
prosecution by Obama’s Justice Department and others for covering-up for priest
sexual predators.

The pope’s US 2012 election strategy was
planned long ago, but ran into some unanticipated obstacles. These
include:

(2) Some US nuns who publicly supported Obama’s
health insurance proposals in opposition to the US bishops (and the
pope);

(3) SNAP, which filed a powerful criminal
complaint with the ICC against the pope,

(4) Bishop Finn, who was indicted for failing
to report an alleged priest child pornographer;

(5) Cardinals Krol, Bevilacqua and Rigali, who
are almost daily being draggged through the priest child abuse mud in Philly,
and

(6) Bishop Bransfield, treasurer of the US
bishops’ group and President of the elite donor group, the Papal Foundation, who
was accused last week of three different sexual misdeeds with minors, while he
and the donors were in Rome to meet with the pope.

Against the foregoing, the pope’s help seems so
far to be hurting Republicans more than helping, especially among American women
voters.

The pope has already had US pastors read
political speeches from their pulpits. A bishop has recently shamelessly
linked Obama to Hitler and Stalin, with silent acquiesence of other bishops to
these unprecedented slurs. Some nuns have nodded in support of Obama’s
health care policies and, as a result the pope has lowered the boom on American
nuns generally. The pope has also called for civil disobedience
demonstrations by American Catholics in June and July, presumably hoping to get
media coverage of Catholics being arrested for “defending the faith” ( the
pope’s faith, that is).

The pope appears desparate. As an experienced
lawyer, I think he has a losing legal strategy. As a citizen, I think he
has a losing political strategy. As a Catholic, I think the pope’s attack
on nuns was a major mistake. It may also be, in my view, a blessing in
disguise that could be the beginning of the end for the male papal monarchy.
The bishops are outmatched by the nuns and I expect the nuns will soon
make that very evident.

For an example of the pope’s temper and
style, please see this
video showing him (as Cardinal Ratzinger and head of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith) slapping an ABC-TV reporter in public on camera
for daring to ask how the almost 50 year old Vatican investigation of Maciel was
going. (The segment with this incident begins at the 1:54 mark in the
video.) If reporters are so treated in public, imagine how bishops (and
nuns) are treated in private.

For information on the call for American
Catholic civil disobedience protests in June and July, please
see this article at The Hill. For a video of last
Saturday’s glum Papal Foundation meeting of “$1 million a head” US donors with
the pope at the Vatican, with Bishop Bransfield front and center, please see this
video uploaded to You Tube by Catholic Tube. For information on
the ongoing Philly criminal trial of Cardinal Rigali’s former top aide and its
negative impact on the papal US election strategy, please
see my previous commentary at the Bilgrimage blog site.

The pope may have a temper, but he apparently
learned well his tactical methods and propaganda techniques at his “junior
seminary” as a teenager, when he was involuntarily pressed into service wth an
anti-aircraft unit of the German Army at the harrowing end of World War II. He
has ruled the Vatican with iron discipline.

As a theologian he has been criticized, for
example, by renowned Jesuit scriptural scholar, Daniel Harrington, in an April
4, 2011 America Magazine article and most recently by his
early colleague, Hans Küng, in his new January
2012 Jesus book (in German), for some fairly basic scholarly
shortcomings. This includes the pope’s (1) excessive reliance on outdated
scriptural exegesis, (2) selective reliance on certain Church Fathers, and
(3) an overly deductive and speculative approach to Christology.

In the pope’s recent rejection again on Holy
Thursday of women priests, the pope cited as support Holy Scripture, the
Catechism and writings of “Blessed” John Paul II. The scriptural argument has
been contradicted by his own Papal Biblical Commission of leading Catholic
scholars he selected. The pope mainly controlled the writing of the
Catechism and greatly influenced the writings of John Paul II, who became
“Blessed” in a rigged process Joseph Ratzinger also controlled. This
pope acts not only as the judge and the jury of “dogma”; he also creates
his own supporting evidence. He may be successful in intimidating many Catholic
scholars, but does he really think most Catholics are that gullible?

Another example of “evidence rigging” by this
pope is the recent attack on Obama apparentlly for “facilitating sinful
contraception,” which the overwhelming majority of Catholics accept in good
conscience. A short history, showing how the anti-contraception
1968 Humanae Vitae encyclical was about preserving papal
power, and not really about promoting God’s reign, is
provided in thisNational Catholic
Reporter article.

Robert Blair Kaiser is the author of the
definitive history book on (a) the promulgation in 1968 of the
encyclical, Humanae Vitae, (b) the formation and manipulation of
the 1960′s Papal Birth Control Commission that recommended permitting
contraception, and (c) the power politics behind the rejection of the
Commission’s recommendation. He has just written a new and timely
forword and has made the entire book available as a free e-book. All
Catholics are in his debt.

Kaiser, nearly 80 years old, and formerly an
award-winning religion journalist
at Time, Newsweek and the New York
Times, has frequently explained clearly and truthfully from the time in the
early ’60′s of his unparalleled reports from Rome on Vatican II, up to his most
recent books and articles, how the Vatican and the Catholic hierarchy work.
His classic book on current contraception “dogma,” The Politics
of Sex and Religion, is now available
online.

One cannot read this book without coming away
with a conviction that women have been punished needlessly for so long just to
keep the male hierarchy in power and over-fed. To now use this discredited
and harmful “contraception dogma” to replace a US president is nothing short of
disgraceful.

What is to be done? At least two action
items are essential. American Catholics must demand in this election
season that the President and Congress commit to adopt promptly necessary laws
to curtail, if not eliminate, child sexual abuse. For sure this must
include a national legal requirement, with significant penalties, that all US
custodians of children, including priests and bishops, report prompty to the
police all reports of abuse. Ireland’s Justice Minister just proposed this
legislation nationally, after considerable study and research, as Carl
O’Brien reports in the Irish Times.

The second action item is to demand that our
political leaders apply fully and promptly existing and new laws vigorously to
the Catholic hierarchy on a state, Federal and international level.

Are you listening President Obama, US Attorney
General Eric Holder, Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Harry Reid and Leader
Nancy Pelosi? What about you Mitt Romney, Senator McConnell and Speaker
Boehner?

Enough “Happy Talk” about children. It is time
to take action.

It is with deep disappointment to me as a
cradle Catholic that the Church hierarchy have reached the current dismal state.
I care about my Church, but I also care deeply about defenseless children
and innocent abuse victims that still hunger and thirst for justice, while
politicians, prosecutors and judges cozy up to powerful bishops for electoral
support and campaign contributions, however indirectly given and made.

Two years ago, I sent the pope a suggestion to
avoid ending up where we have now ended up. Not entirely surprisingly, I
never heard anything from the pope or his staff. That proposal could still
work, if he or his successor just listened to the Spirit for a change, rather
than to their lawyers and financial advisors.

Friday, April 27, 2012

"To say that the sisters are at a critical crossroad is an
understatement.

They know, as we do, that it is their properties more
likely than their policies that today are in the bulls eye of Rome. It is no
coincidence that the current situation collides with the steeple grab of
parishes hitting a major obstacle in Cleveland. Bishop Richard Lennon must back
down and re-open the 12 parishes on which he hung closed signs with the
bulldozer disregard he honed in Boston as an auxiliary of Cardinal Law's. In St.
Louis the Missouri Supreme Court sided with the trusteeship organization of the
parish of St. Stanislaus Parish and bluntly told the archbishop that he does not
own the $9 million assets of this parish no matter how much excommunicating gets
waived about or how much hold he thinks he has over the parishioners
souls.

The religious sisters hold and manage valuable properties
in the United States and a number of the congregations are involved in the
lucrative business of health care both in hospitals and nursing
homes. If Rome's worst way prevails and canonical status is taken
from the sisters' congregations, all, some, a few, will lose their properties
and the threat of that the Vatican knows is more than enough to give the sisters
pause.

Pause enough to heed and heel or pause to seize the moment
in true freedom and heal the Church itself only time will tell
us."

Yes, sadly it is apparent that the Vatican's "take-over" of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious/LCWR is all about power and control. I am sure the savvy Sisters will get smart legal advice about their properties. I hope that the religious orders will declare their independence from the Vatican, continue their prophetic ministry and service to the church, and affirm nuns called to a renewed priestly ministry. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests stand in solidarity with our Sisters at this crossroads. It is time for all of us to work together so that justice rises up for the nuns and for all women in the Roman Catholic Church! One of the ways we can support them is to donate money to LCWR so that they will have the resources they need at this time.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Simone Campbell's appearance on “Hardball with Chris Matthews” is scheduled to air today
at 5pm EST (4pm CST/ 3pm MST/ 2pm PST). If you are unable to watch live,
video clips should be available on their website (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/) within 24 hours after airing.

Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Juanita Cordero, two Catholic women priestsin collar, and Barbara Snyder arrived in Rome on April 24, 2012. Thefollowing morning we visited the Vatican museum and the Sistine Chapel; noproblem. The next morning we went to St. Peters Cathedral to attend anearly mass where we joined one being celebrated in French. Out of respect wedid not wear the collar and prayerfully joined the congregation andparticipated as much as we could with our limited French. The meaning ofthe mass was clear to us as we are familiar with the different parts. Thebishop during his homily asked the 80+ priests gathered around the altar torenew their ordination promises.When communion time arrived we stood up to join the others to receive. Theway was blocked on both ends of the row by two tall priests who refused tolet us join the line with the others to receive. One priest approachedChristine, grabbed her arm and said, “Yesterday you identified yourself as apriest; I cannot allow you to proceed.” We decided to leave our row and sittowards the back so that we could continue our worship. At this point we putour collars on.During the recessional the bishop and all the priests came down the centeraisle passing right by us. Many gave us small signs of solidarity.Following this experience we visited the underground catacombs and startedto visit the rest of St. Peters. Our visit was cut short because Vaticanguards came to us and, in a friendly manner, asked us to leave the churchand escorted us out. One told us he did not want to arrest us and would nothave to do so if we would leave peacefully and quickly. We asked why, andthey replied that it was forbidden for women to wear collars.

This
conference
is the one that the majority (95%) of catholic nuns belong to in the
United States. It has been very supportive, resourceful and helpful to
religious congregations. It is unfortunate that the Vatican is taking
this approach, appointing a ‘man’ – Cardinal
to oversee the Conference, get approval for speakers, etc … The
Leadership of the Conference has only issued a preliminary response
which is listed below. They are taking the time to study the Vatican’s
response and then will formulate a more reflective
public response.

After reading the articles below, a means of support is growing in various locations. One is Facebook

LCWR Statement from Presidency on CDF Doctrinal Assessment Vatican[Silver Spring, Maryland]
The
presidency of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious was stunned
by the conclusion of the doctrinal assessment of LCWR by the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. We had received a letter
from the CDF prefect in early March informing us that we
would hear the results of the doctrinal assessment at our annual
meeting; however, we were taken by surprise by the gravity of the
mandate.This is a moment
of great import for religious life and the wider church. We ask your
prayers as we meet with the LCWR National Board within the coming
month to review the mandate and prepare a response.

Editorial "American Nuns, Conscience and the Vatican""The Vatican is reining in the leadership conference that represents 80 percent of American Catholic nuns,
accusing the group of “serious doctrinal problems” and promoting “radical feminist themes.” That seems a misreading of the
very fine work in schools, charities, prisons and impoverished neighborhoods being done by about 60,000 nuns across the nation." NEW YORK TIMES

Related News

"These nuns and their leaders continued to bolster the reputation of the Roman Catholic Church even as it suffered
one of its greatest scandals in the sexual abuse of schoolchildren by rogue priests and the cover-ups by diocesan authorities.

The
Vatican has now appointed a bishop to oversee the operations of the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
— the 1,500 superiors who run the sisters’ communities — citing
individual nuns at conference gatherings challenging church teaching on
homosexuality and the male-only priesthood. The announcement also
accused the group’s leaders of focusing too much on poverty
and economic injustice while allegedly keeping “silent” on abortion and
same-sex marriage.

A
crucial focus in the inquiry appears to be the fact that dozens of
American nuns involved in the conference
and in antipoverty and hospital work provided prominent support to
President Obama’s health care reform. Conference leaders said Vatican
investigators had pointedly raised the issue and the fact that the
conference had split with American bishops, who opposed
reform.

The sisters’ leaders said they reaffirmed their opposition to abortion but also claimed the right to speak
out on a “moral imperative” like health care, just as the bishops had.

The nuns clearly are caught in a classic crossfire of church doctrine, politics and hierarchical obedience.
It would be a tragedy, far beyond the church, if their fine work and their courageous voices were constrained."

..."In his Holy Thursday sermon, Pope Benedict XVI made headlines for criticizing those who refuse to obey the church's position
on the ordination of celibate men. He traced his argument back to Christ's
obedience to the will of God ...the pontiff fails to point out that Jesus was obeying God while
also radically disobeying the religious leaders and laws of his time. ... I suppose the pope is using some of this same logic in his treatment of the
Leadership Conference of Women Religious. He views the sisters' unwillingness to
condemn gays and lesbians or contraception or women who feel called ordained
ministry as an act of "caprice."But the basis on which the sisters focus their ministries is anything but
shallow and whimsical. Their devotion is founded on a radical obedience to the
voice of God as it emerges from the voices of the poor, the sick, the abandoned
and the broken.Most sisters spend their lives immersed in the deepest sufferings of our
world. They don't just stop by the soup kitchen on Ash Wednesday for a photo op.
Some actually live in shelters with homeless women, orphans or the addicted..."

"Any disagreements on contraception likely stem from the sisters' work with
poor, homeless and battered women. They harbor girls enslaved in the sex trade,
women trapped in abusive relationships and mothers abandoned to poverty.Many sisters still run hospitals and are medical professionals. They have
seen firsthand the price that so many women pay for husbands and boyfriends who
refuse to wear condoms yet still demand sex. Every day, they see patients who
have been date raped or women who bear life-threatening pregnancies. Many sisters are theologians, ethicists, spiritual directors and teachers.
They engage students and directees in their metaphysical and existential
questions. They spend hours listening to stories and struggles and aid in
discerning ethical dilemmas and spiritual crises. And though technically they
cannot confer absolution, they have heard countless confessions.Some women religious do support the ordination of women. They have dedicated
their entire lives to being a sacrament in the world, yet they have been told
that their bodies are not worthy of consecrating the Eucharist or giving last
rites to an ailing patient whom they have shepherded through sickness unto
death.With such an intensely sacramental life, it should be no wonder that sisters
have deep intellectual curiosity and spiritual longings. With hearts so
regularly broken open, why wouldn't they ask deeper questions of this mysterious
world that brims with the power of a wounded God? With all that they've
witnessed, how could they not entertain the possibility that holiness can be
present in same-sex love or in the body of a woman priest?..."

[Jamie L. Manson received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity
School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her columns for
NCR earned her a first prize Catholic Press Association award for Best
Column/Regular Commentary in 2010.]

The
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests celebrates the Leadership Conference
of Women Religious and the nearly 60,000 women religious they represent in the
United States. We reject the unjust, bullying behavior of the scandal-ridden
Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who has ordered the LCWR to
reform itself more closely to “the teachings and discipline of the Church.” It
is the corrupt hierarchy, who has spent billions of dollars and devastated the
lives of thousands of youth in the sexual abuse crisis that needs reform, not
the dedicated nuns in the United States.

Now is the time for the LCWR to
speak truth to power. Declare a nuns’ emancipation proclamation from Vatican
control. Challenge Vatican misogyny publicly. Affirm primacy of conscience and gender
equality including women's ordination.

"As a Sister for Christian
Community, I belong to an independent community of women religious not under
Vatican control," Bridget Mary Meehan reflects, “This means that I am blessed
with freedom to live my vocation as a woman priest. "

Nuns who are called by God and their
communities should be able to serve as priests.

“Religious communities of women have been
the backbone of the church and the heart that pumps hope through the life of the
church,” said newly ordained woman priest Miriam Picconi of Palm Coast,
Florida.

In the Biblical prophetic tradition the
sisters have devoted their lives to living Gospel justice and reading the signs
of the times. They have heard the
cries of the poor, the exploited and the abandoned. Lifting oppression and birthing community
and right relations, women religious have been at work transforming the
world.

We as women priests express our gratitude
to the sisters, our mentors and teachers who have been inspired by the
Spirit. They have re-discovered and
reaffirmed in us the Feminine Wisdom of God. They have blessed the love and commitment of
same-sex partnerships. They have
encouraged us women called to priesthood to live out our call. They have been prophetic voices for the
liberating activity of the Spirit in our church and world. We stand in prayerful solidarity with all
nuns and the LCWR in time of crisis. May women religious lead the church into a
new beginning of justice and equality!

But
will he ever really crack down on protectors of pedophile priests?

"A
Vatican-led investigation of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious cites
the nuns’ silence on abortion and same-sex marriage. How bad is that up against
the silence of church officials, from parish priests to the Vatican, who ignored
and concealed child sex crimes?

By ironic coincidence, news about the Vatican’s effort to rein in
the conference — the largest and most influential group of Catholic nuns in the
United States — broke the same day the Rev. Bradley M. Schaeffer resigned from
the Boston College Board of Trustees after growing public criticism over the
role he played in supervising a former Jesuit priest who allegedly molested
dozens of children over a span of 40 years.

The
juxtaposition of the two events exposes a familiar church mindset.

The
Vatican launched an investigation of the nuns in 2008, concerned by what it
views as the group’s increasingly liberal tilt. An American bishop is now
charged with reeling them in, after the investigation revealed “serious
doctrinal problems” relating to “radical feminist themes incompatible with the
Catholic faith.” The nuns were also reprimanded for public statements that put
them at odds with Catholic bishops during the 2010 debate over health care
reform.Perceived threats to his authority swiftly grab the pope’s attention.
Accountability for long-ago threats to children is still something to
dodge.

This
follows Benedict’s recent condemnation of dissident priests. During a Holy
Thursday Mass, the pope publicly rebuked a group of Austrian priests who
challenged the church on priestly celibacy and the ban on female priests;
disobedience would not be tolerated, he said.

What
he does tolerate is a worldwide network of priests who enabled sexual abusers. Unlike dissidents, they are not called out in St. Peter’s Square and no one is
put in charge of reeling them in. They are free, like Schaeffer, to end up on
the boards of prominent Jesuit institutions — until public pressure forces them
out...."

"In Philadelphia
last week, a child sex-abuse trial involving Catholic clergy led to a bombshell
— a bishop from West Virginia was accused of abuse.

In Kansas City, a
Catholic bishop goes on trial in September, accused of failing to report
suspected child abuse.

Last year church
officials paid $144 million to settle abuse allegations and cover legal bills,
and although many of the cases went back decades, church auditors have warned of
"growing complacency" about protecting children today.

You know, the thousands of women who took
vows of poverty to work with the poor, the sick and
disabled.

Why?

They're just not toeing the line, says the Holy
See. Instead of frittering away so much time on "issues of social justice," they
should be speaking out against contraception and
homosexuality. They should also muzzle themselves on the ordination of women and
other "radical feminist themes."

When I first heard about this "doctrinal
assessment" of the nuns, I thought it might be someone's idea of satire. You
know, a parody of the out-of-touch Vatican patriarchy.

But holy jumping
Jehoshaphat, they're dead serious, which would be funny except for the effect
it's having on American nuns. The ones I spoke to were shaken. They felt
insulted and demoralized, too, even though the Vatican briefly acknowledged
their good works before rapping them hard on the knuckles with a
ruler"

"This is the same church that ignored people who were being
pedophiles," said Sister Jo'Ann De Quattro, who, as a Los Angeles nun for more
than 50 years, has worked as a teacher and advocate for peace and justice.
Cracking down on nuns, said De Quattro, was a convenient way of shifting the
focus away from the church's ongoing abuse scandal. "We really know why they're
focusing on the women. It's all about control. It's all about exercising
authority..."

"The Vatican, this week, released a report that excoriates nuns for “serious doctrinal problems” or, in Vatican-speak, for following “radical feminist themes,” associating with the sick, the pregnant, the victims of abuse--if they are gay, say, or in same-sex relationships, or in need of particular health-care services--and caring for them, meeting with them, praying with them. The American bishops, meanwhile, castigate GOP members of Congress, their erstwhile, Obama-bashing side-kicks, for their embrace of savage social service spending cuts that will hurt some of the very same people the Vatican was blasting the nuns for caring about and for: the poor, the vulnerable, the old, the sick, the jobless, the needy, again, the very people that are frequent recipients of the services and tender mercies of American nuns-- and have been for centuries. So, here we have the Republicans in Congress (including Rep. Ryan, chief architect, acting against the Catholic social justice tenets he has been taught) being accused, correctly, by the bishops of undercutting efforts to combat the ills that many nuns devote their lives to ameliorating, and the Vatican comes down on? The nuns! "

"Catholic nuns, specifically the Leadership Conference of Women Religious —1500 or so superiors who run the various communities of
sisters—are being placed in virtual receivership, their operations to be
“overseen” by a bishop with the assistance of two additional bishops. The
purpose? To quiet the voices of nuns heard at conferences, say, where church
teaching on homosexuality, the primacy of the RC Church as the path to
salvation, and the male-only priesthood seem to be acceptable subjects of
conversation and debate. And, oh yes, to right this wrong: being too focused on
poverty and economic injustice while allegedly keeping silent on abortion and
same-sex marriage!... "